


Gravity

by juldevere



Category: Revenge (TV)
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2014-10-19
Updated: 2014-10-19
Packaged: 2018-02-21 18:44:47
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 827
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/2478605
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/juldevere/pseuds/juldevere
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>She gets out something, short and breathless, a word he can't quite make out, even though he strains to try.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Gravity

**Author's Note:**

> A/N: My first attempt at writing Revenge fic so I apologize already, it’s a bit scattered. Kept short because my nerves got the better of me.
> 
> A one shot following on from the line up scene that was shown in the both the promo and sneak peak for the next episode.

_Daddy?_

She gets out something, short and breathless, a word he can't quite make out, even though he strains to try.

“Emily, I need you to confirm for me that the man you just identified out of the following line up is the man that broke into your house last night…Emily, can you confirm for me?” Ben asks firmly with an air of impatience, as if either ignoring the change in her demeanor or simply misreading it.

There is absolute silence and then, because he’s watching her so carefully, Jack moves quickly for the wastebasket just as Emily ducks her head and vomits into it, barely making it over the rim.

“Give us a minute, would you?” It’s not really a question, Jack’s voice hitching on an erratic plea; he’s struggling to keep his composure. This Ben sees and although he looks unsure, he backs out of the room, throwing a last glance to Emily before Jack has shut the door, locking it. They wouldn't have as long as she needed and should, for crying out loud, receive. He’s known of David for only a little bit longer than she has and he’s close to feeling like needs his head over something himself. He doesn't remove the basket, her head still ducked, knees bent as if preempting herself for a fight but she’s trembling so hard he’s afraid she'll buckle and the two instincts he has, screaming in his mind, are to touch her but also to give her a safe distance.

There’s a pounding at the door, “Jack!”

Emily startles and stands up right, roughly wiping her mouth. Her eyes are dilated, wildly darting around the room; though somehow, impossible it must be, avoiding the two-way mirror completely. This is a foreign sight to him: she is frightened, a small child again, a spool unwinding. He tries to swallow but there’s an ache there and her name is pushed to the bottom of his throat.

There are cracks here forming, leaks that cannot be plugged.

The door then twists open and Ben looks slightly pissed but far more considerate which Jack thinks is merciful because this especially wasn’t the time for questions or prodding.

“I was mistaken. Excuse me.” Emily manages before rushing around Ben.

Jack throws an apologetic look Ben’s way that also has a precaution of, “I am asking you not to push this” and follows her quickly out of the room and down the hall; she’s dying desperately for the exit.

Nolan, whom Jack had rung out of respect but also out of necessity – Emily would need him- is on the front lawn, waiting.

“Ems…?” Jack hears Nolan ask with a sense of panicked urgency because clearly something is very, very wrong but Emily brushes past him only to sag against the nearest tree, a few feet away. Jack wonders as he takes the steps two at a time, if he should possibly call a medic. Maybe this was too much for Nolan. Maybe they would have to sedate her.

“Jack?” Nolan asks, desperation on his face, as he steps closer towards her, looking to his friend for an answer and it’s all Jack can do not to reach for them, either one with something, some form of pathetic apology. With comfort. Emily hasn’t moved from her position against the tree but he can see the shaking of her back, hear her shallow breathing.

Jack forces himself to look away from her and look Nolan in the eye, “Last night. The break in….there was a line up…and one of the suspects…”

There’s this quiet sound they both suddenly hear then, turning to the source in disbelief, quiet but violently apparent, like a slow tearing of the skin: her chest is caving in, a sob escaping.

Jack continues but Nolan, noticeably, has whitened already, “It was David, Nolan. David Clarke. He’s alive.”

Nolan practically stumbles backwards, “David-“ He repeats and he comes to the ground, as if the name was a weight that he could not shoulder.

Jack takes a few steps back as Nolan eventually stands and puts a hand to her back and instead of refusing this contact, Jack sees the gentle movement, the shift, as she leans into him. “Nolan….” She whispers, and Jack can hear the confusion, her voice thick with despair and watches as they move into one another.

Jack turns around; this did not belong to him.

But it suddenly fills his ears, as he walks back up the steps and notices Ben there waiting, that whisper of her voice. The first sound she had made, what she had spoken and what he had thought he had missed, but really, it’s so clear it hurts - it’s a struggle to be moving further and further away from her - hadn’t.

_“Daddy?” She manages, breathless, her eyes full of tears, a face full of hope and doubt but sure, sure wonderment; she is but a child again._

_Daddy?_


End file.
